Chapter Text
“What have the two of you done?” The voice boomed through the room echoing off the rock walls. Elvera’s head snapped to see Solomon standing looking in disgust at her and Sebastian. A cold dread shot through Elvera’s body, both her and Sebastian had willingly learned and preformed unforgivable curses, Solomon was sure to turn them in now and she had already seen Azkaban and did not want to go back.
“Accio Relic.” Solomon commanded and the relic flew from Sebastian’s hands. They were dead, Solomon might be an old man now but he was an Aura and even the two best duellers in Hogwarts stood little chance against someone who’s profession was to hunt dark wizards. Was that what she had become, a dark witch. Starring Sebastian in the eye Solomon destroyed the relic, instantly the inferni started moving of their own accord and homed in on the three of them. Elvera looked at Sebastian and watched the anger that filled his eyes before sending a magic attack towards Solomon.
“Fuck.” Elvera cursed under her breath as she turned towards the inferni shambling towards them. She hated inferni the most of all the creatures she has fought, not only are they things of nightmares that haunt her when she closes her eyes but they most be burned before they take any damage. Dodging attacks Elvera released all the fire causing spells she knew, she couldn’t even keep track of which one she had attacked already simply dodging attacks and firing at whichever one was closest to her.
Sidestepping a claw swing Elvera felt her back bump into Sebastian. Before she could even turn to look at him Sebastian reached behind him grabbing Elvera’s hip and pushing her with him as he jumped out of the way of a magical attack. Elvera turned her head to look behind her past Sebastian to see Solomon about to release another attack on the two of them. Sebastian threw up a shield protecting the both of them.
“Mr. Sallow, stop. Please!” Elvera pleaded as she pulled away from Sebastian to attack a group of inferni that had gathered together making them an easy target. Solomon didn’t react at all to her pleads. The inferni just kept coming despite how many Elvera destroyed, they were pouring in from other chambers in the crypt and were hell bent on destroying the three of them. She dashed around the room fighting and destroying inferni as they neared both Sebastian and Solomon, they might be trying to kill each other but she wasn’t going to let any inferni harm either of them. Another magical attack barely missed Elvera.
“You are no friend of my nephew.” Solomon called out and Elvera grit her teeth to not respond as she continued to focus on the inferni.
“Leave her alone!” Sebastian shouted and continued his onslaught against his uncle. Elvera destroyed another inferni and bent over hand on her knees panting from the exhausting fight, usually at this point she had dispatched with all the enemies. Looking to the two men fighting she groaned in anger and frustration, she needed them to just stop fighting each other, she couldn’t keep going for much longer and soon they would be overrun, they needed to stop fighting.
Starring the two down an anger at their selfishness and stupidity sent a heat through her body that she could feel fuelling her, snarling she lifted her wand waiting for the two to be lined up, she needed them to help her against the inferni, needed them to stop trying to kill each other, needed them to both settle down before someone died. A deep growl start in her throat as her anger against both of them boiled in her blood, how dare Sebastian do this without letting her try to help and convince him not to, how dare Solomon attack them and treat Sebastian the way he did, how dare both of them drag her into this. She felt the whispering of ancient magic course through her bones, heard the whispers that were normally light and ethereal turn into a feral howl in her ears.
“Imperio!” Elvera had never spoken a spell in a way that felt like she was speaking an insult, her tongue tasted of venom as the word left her mouth. She felt the anger and ancient magic leave her body and shoot out through her wand, the intertwining wood pieces glowing a blood red as tendrils of magic flew through the air like spider webs encompassing a prey animal. The two men suddenly and jarringly stopped, they stood still heads turned towards Elvera, their eyes glowing with magic. A wave of exhaustion passed through Elvera as she fell to a knee barely able to catch her breath after casting such an extreme spell and on two people at once.
“Kill the inferni.” She barely whispered swallowing deeply between breaths to try and sooth her drying mouth. The two turned and began attacking the army of inferni, Elvera pushed herself back to her feet and joined them in the fight. She was not nearly as efficient as she had been a moment ago but at least now there were three of them working together. The tides quickly turned as the inferni numbers finally started to dwindle. At last the last inferni fell to its demise.
“What is going on?” Anne’s voice asked in disbelieve from the entrance to the room they were in.
“Solomon, go home.” Elvera commanded and Solomon turned walking out of the room past Anne.
“You used Imperio on them.” Anne stated in horror as she looked at Elvera who was barely standing as she tried to recover from the fight. Frustration rolled through her at Anne’s disgust.
“Yes, I did. Because they were going to kill each other. I stopped them, one of them was going to die if I didn’t do something, they wouldn’t stop. Inferni were attacking us, they ignored the danger, they only cared about harming each other. I put an end to it, I saved their lives.” Elvera shouted with what little energy she had left.
“You took their will from them.” Anne said still in shock from what she saw.
“They had to stop! This is not something that can be solved with wands and anger, they need to sit and talk to each other. Fuck! You want to take this out on me? What about Solomon, who has done nothing but berate and abuse Sebastian. He accuses Sebastian of being like his father and spits on the memory of your parents, he destroyed the attempts Sebastian made to try and make you happy and ridiculed Sebastian for even trying. He misses you, you lost your future and he lost his sister, he wants you back and Solomon mocked him for it. Solomon pushed Sebastian to this, he should have been there for him, should have helped him through his grief, he failed as a caretaker. You and Sebastian need to work through this, Sebastian needs help, needs someone to comfort him and explain that things are different now. But instead you both just ignored him and told him to get over it.” Elvera shouted, she loved Sebastian so much and watching him be hurt and pushed to this by his family had broke her.
“Why are you just bringing this up now?” Anne asked with genuine hurt in her voice.
“Because I’m just realizing it now.” Elvera yelled in frustration at herself for not putting the pieces of what her friend needed together before it reached this level. Her voice echoed off the walls, as the noise died down a soft heartbreaking sound entered Elvera’s ears. Turning around Elvera saw Sebastion on the ground, doubled over, sobbing into the dirt beneath him.
“I just wanted to help.” Sebastian chocked out between wails of sorrow. He took a deep shaky breath before letting out a screamed cry that sounded like a soul breaking.
“Sebastian.” Anne whispered as she walked over to her brother and kneeled next to him. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and he leaped forward pulling her into a tight hug nearly knocking her over as he cried into her shoulder.
“I miss you.” He wailed as he clutched her as though letting go would lead to his death. The sound of footfalls entered Elvera’s ears and she turned to see Solomon walking back towards the entrance of the room. Without hesitation Elvera tapped into the last reserves of ancient magic she had and grew twisted pillars from the stone completely blocking the entrance from the abusive man. Her vision suddenly went blurry with black spots as Elvera not so gracefully sat on the floor as her head began spinning. The sounds of Sebastian’s pain slowly faded from Elvera’s hearing as the world slowly went black.
****
“You were attacked by a group of inferni?” A nurse confirmed as she looked at her clipboard. Anne and Sebastian were sitting in two chairs near a bed where Elvera was unconscious in St. Mungos.
“That’s correct, we were fighting them off, she passed out after we won.” Sebastian whispered not taking his eyes off Elvera.
“Do you have her wand so that we can view what the last spell was that she cast? It might help explain why she passed out.” The nurse asked. Sebastian shook his head not trusting himself to tell a convincing lie at the moment.
“She must have dropped it when she passed out, we simply grabbed her and left before more inferni or dark wizards showed up.” Anne offered as an explanation.
“Very well. It seems from the tests that we did that she is simply extremely exhausted. Magical exhaustion can take a long time to recover from, it takes a lot for someone to use up their magic to the point where they pass out. She’ll likely need to rest for some time, but in a few days she should be able to return to school. You may stay with her as long as you like.” The nurse explained with a smile before walking away. Sebastian put a hand on Elvera’s arm.
“I am sorry for allowing Uncle Solomon to keep me from being with you.” Anne whispered.
“I’m sorry for how I handled my emotions. I should never have let it get this far, every time I tried something Solomon stopped it so I had to try something more extreme, had to find something to prove to him that I could find a cure.” Sebastian whispered back barely keeping himself from crying again.
“I’m just glad that we are talking about it now.” Anne told him as she reached for his other hand and took it in her own.
****
“She seems to be doing well after what happened.” Professor Weasley said cheerfully as she poured a cup of tea for her and Professor Sharp.
“She is still very exhausted all the time. Falling asleep in class, passing out in hallways, arriving to the wrong classes or at the wrong time. The other students have taken to babysitting her. Waking her up, escorting her to her classes even if it means they are late to theirs, taking notes for her.” Professor Sharp explained as he took a sip of the tea.
“She is very kind and has made many friends, the students care for her and many look up to her.” Weasley confirmed.
“Her magic still isn’t at the level that it was before the incident but it gets stronger each day.” Sharp paused for a moment before continuing. “Do you believe the story of what happened?”
“That Solomon had verbally attacked Sebastian and he ran into the catacombs to escape him where he stumbled on a dark wizard camp infested with inferni only for Elvera to come to the rescue and Solomon to show up a short time later believing they had caused the inferni leading to a battle?” Weasley clarified.
“Yes, that. It’s a bit far-fetched. An ex-aura attacking them just because he thinks they raised an army of inferni that then attacked them, seems a bit extreme of a reaction. Especially when Solomon tells a different version of the story.” Sharp argued.
“You’re and ex-aura, if you stumbled upon some trouble making students with a relic trying to control the army of inferni around them what would you think? Also, Anne, Elvera, Sebatian, and Ominis all tell the same story.” Weasley explained.
“So you trust four students, one whom is blind, over an ex-aura?”
“I believe they are all telling the truth in their own way, Solomon is an angry man who has never liked Sebastian, that anger clouds the way he sees the events, and fear clouds the way the students see the events. I believe calling it a family dispute and leaving it there is the best course for all involved.” Weasley stated with a finality that didn’t allow discussion.
“Very well, I shall defer to you in this situation. They are all good students and I would hate to lose them over…. A family dispute.” Sharp agreed. “Though I will be keeping a close eye on them.”
****
“And then I dodged out of the way as Sebastian put a shield around us to block an attack.” Elvera said dramatically as she waved her wand around as if she was in the battle she was describing. She was sitting on one of the couches in the Defense against the Dark Arts tower, many students surrounded her listening to her retelling of the story of how she ended up in St. Mungos and why she barely had the strength to make it to class anymore. Of course many details were left out from the story, or altered, after all no one needed to know what she had to do to stop Sebastian and Solomon.
Sebastian leaned against one of the railings across from Elvera watching her tell her story. He had taken it upon himself to stay with her as much as possible and help her to and from class. It was a task that he was used to, he had done it at the start of every year with Ominis to help him find his classes and establish a pattern. He smiled as he watched Elvera dramatically wave her wand around, thanks to her he had finally started to heal with the help of Anne, he didn’t think he would ever fully accept what happened to her but he could start to accept her how she was now. Elvera glanced up and look Sebastian in the eyes a wide smile growing on her face and a slight blush on her cheeks at locking eyes with him.
“Alright, time for her to get some rest.” Sebastian announced as he walked forward to disperse the students present. There were some grumbles but everyone started to get up and walk away.
“If it isn’t my hero come to rescue me.” Elvera teased, Sebastian let out a small snort at that.
“More like forcing you into the dungeon called your common room before you exhaust yourself.” Sebastian clarified with a smile.
“Does that make you a dragon keeping a princess trapped?” Elvera teased.
“Yes, it does, now come along back to your cell.” Sebastian joked as he held out a hand to help her up.
“How do you plan on keeping me in there? Last I checked Slytherins weren’t allowed in Hufflepuff common rooms.” Elvera asked as she stood and reached for her bag only for Sebastian to grab it before she did.
“I’ll sleep outside the door if I have to, you need to rest.” Sebastian lightheartedly threatened as he led her to the Hufflepuff common room.